


The Doodler and Her Muse

by radio_antlers



Category: Lumberjanes
Genre: Doodles, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Word Count: 500-1000, could be taken platonically or romantically, think what you like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29371482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radio_antlers/pseuds/radio_antlers
Summary: April likes to draw when she gets bored, and Jo just so happens to be her favorite thing to sketch.
Relationships: April/Jo (Lumberjanes)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	The Doodler and Her Muse

April liked to doodle. She’s a doodler. All the proof needed was on the margins of her notebooks; little scribbles of flowers, mermaids, aliens, anything that just popped into her head in the middle of a boring class. They were in sparkly, multi-colored gel pens most of the time, too. She claimed that the standard #2 pencil somehow _“restricted her creative abilities.”_

Her artistic habits didn’t change during camp. Whenever she was waiting for new information on a creature for her _Bestiary,_ as she so lovingly called it, she would draw on the corner of her paper. Since fourth grade, she had evolved from just drawing the normal stuff. Now, she drew things that she saw around the cabin.

Ripley’s brightly colored socks strewn around her bottom bunk, the mini band posters that Mal had stuck in the window frame so she wouldn’t have to see all of the outside during the night, daisy chains Molly had carefully constructed on slow days, or the glow star constellations Jen had stuck to her little corner of the ceiling. April’s amber eyes would catch sight of these items, and within minutes, they’d be little neon sketches near the binding of the book.

But April had found a _new_ subject to study, as of late.

_Jo._

She was fun to draw. Tall and kinda spindly, deep brown hair that perfectly framed her narrow face, and intelligent eyes that always seemed to be searching for an answer to whatever problem their cabin may or may not have run into. April liked to draw pretty things, and Jo _was_ very pretty.

Not to mention the fact that during Rec Time, Jo would read or tinker with random pieces of mechanics she borrowed from the engineering cabin earlier, always in the most interesting of poses. Sometimes she was folded in on herself, bangs falling in a curtain in front of her face, whatever she was up to posing like a sacred object, and she the protector. Other days, she would be sprawled across the top bunk, one leg bracing her book and the other dangling off the edge, elbows stuck out in angles that were a little jarring at first, hair spilling over the headboard. And each time, April would lie on the floor, gazing up at her muse and quickly scratching her figure onto the blank space, before she shifted into a drastically different position. It was good posing practice for April.

And for the record, April wasn’t being _creepy_ or _secretive_ or anything of the sort. She’d proudly shown each drawing to Jo, and each time she checked to make sure Jo was still okay with it. Jo thought it was cute; she had never thought of herself as someone _worthy_ of drawing, but April strongly disagreed with her. Unbeknownst to her artsy pal, Jo would occasionally exaggerate the oddity of her poses, just to give April a little bit of a challenge.

But somehow, April always seemed to capture it perfectly. She even tagged a few of them with cheeky captions.

_“How the frick is she sitting comfortably like that??” “I wonder what she’s thinking about…nerd stuff, probably : >” “The wild Jo in her natural habitat – disturb her, and she might chuck that book at you.” _

Another thing April had discovered: Jo wasn’t just fun _to draw,_ but she also made for a nice canvas.

They’d sit out on the cabin porch, a novel sitting in Jo’s lap and Jo’s hand in April’s. One would read and the other would draw, contentedly silent, listening to the calm, forest-y soundtrack the outdoors provided. It was one of _several_ little rituals the two shared, and by the end of each session, the back of Jo’s hand would be covered in plants, birds, or an entire _galaxy_ , all in vibrant, sparkly colors. April would photograph some of them, paste them into the pages of her scrapbook, and others, she would just watch as they fade over the week.

Today, when Jo tore her eyes away from the book she’d borrowed from the library, she found that the back of her hand had been covered in little pink, red, and white hearts in varying sizes. It reminded her of the dorky – but adorable – camera filters April like to put on her face back home. It was cute, Jo decided.

“Switching things up, I see,” she commented, glancing up at April, who was still hard at work, tip of her tongue parting between her lips and all.

“Didn’t want you to get bored,” April replied behind a grin, “and this color scheme just so happens to compliment you.”

Jo hummed, the corners of her mouth upturning into a soft smile. “Are you gonna take a picture of this one?”

The redhead nodded, shoving the cap onto her gel pen.

“I assume you have a witty caption in mind, _Miss Pungeon Master.”_

“We’ll see.”

Later that night, while everyone was winding down from the day, Jo asked to take a peek at April’s camp scrapbook. She flipped to the most recent page, where two Polaroids lied, one of her decorated hand and the other of Jo examining the design, bound to the paper by washi tape strips. Just as Jo had expected, a caption had been scrawled on the image, but instead of a pun or teasing quip, was simply this:

_“Pretty – both the art, and the canvas <3” _

Jo looked over the edge of the bunk, locking eyes with April, who just shrugged and smiled at her.

April was a doodler. And as much as it annoyed her teachers when she turned in homework sheets covered in random, tiny drawings, the look of joy and awe she got from Jo whenever she caught sight of her work made up for it every single time.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this all in one sitting and holy cow, is that a feeling. I'm not participating in Femslash February this year, I just thought it was really cute. 
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed!


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